Negative effects of ethanol

[a101960]

In the UK there is no legal requirement to label pumps, and anything that is sold for motor fuel is automatically taxed as motor fuel, be it water thin air or anything else. Basically anything can be dumped into the tanks so long as the government gets its revenue. The only check on fuel that is carried out, are Customs & Excise checks and that is only to ensure the pumps are calibrated correctly. The characteristics of the fuel are not part of this check. Strangely with beer the specific gravity is tested ( the higher the alcohol level then the more you pay in tax). Octane rating on petrol does not affect tax. Higher octane petrol is more expensive but that is due to the price charged by the supplier.

[muskrat]

Blinded by the Bull S#@t then. I thought our pollies were bad!!
Cheers

[olev]

I don't think it matters.
Like it or not we are going to learn to run our bikes on ethernol - or something other than straight petrol.
In 10 years time, if you can buy it, straight petrol will be 20 bucks a litre.

Modern oils apparently aren't suitable for our engines. We fit filters.
Unleaded petrol isn't suitable for our engines. We fit valve inserts and alter the jetting.
We adapt.
Given time, advice from experienced people and a bit of trial and error we'll be running our beesa's on 100% ethernol and loving it.

We may have to stick our plastic tanks on the shelf and use tins.
We may have to learn what bits get eaten by the green juice and replace them with bits that are vaccinated against it.
So, we have to modify our bikes again. So what. The only factory original bikes you see these days arrive and leave on a trailer anyhow.
This does not just affect BSAs. There are some very clever people out there who will come up with solution(s)
 
With petrol rationing during the second world war they ran engines on all sorts of stuff.
cheers

[iansoady]

Well said.

Whatever happens we can't expect oil companies or governments to look after a tiny minority like us.

[madsens]

HI

Maybe this would be an alternative to Ethanol - Danish Nimbus 1939 with woodburning Gas generator (WW2)...

Joergen

[cyclobutch]

Well I'm seeing various companies advertising ethanol proof sealants now.

Is anyone selling universal tank sealant remover ? (Yeah I know - try ethanol)

[muskrat]

Yes, well put Olev. But we will need extra pannier type fuel tanks. When running methanol in the A7SS I was getting 12 MPG so with ethanol you might get 16  . Might have to get the old still working again!!
Cheers.

[bikerbob]

HI there
To cyclobutch there is a company called Tank Care Products that sell a Petseal sealant remover wether this works for any other sealant I do not know it is priced at £16.50 plus p&p you could ring and ask. Also on another site someone said that the active chemical in Petseal remover was methyl chloride which is the main chemical in Nitromos paint stripper which you can buy at B&Q but I do not know if it works he also said that if you are going to use it you had better hurry up as those clowns in Europe are going to ban it.

[Goldy]

In this months old bike mart there is an advert from a Company called  Caswell Europe (http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/) This or course is a sales advert, but they are saying that ethanol not only attacks fibreglass tanks but also traditional steel petrol tanks.

[lawnmowerman]

Yes I saw that ad last night in OBM. I guess that they are referring to the water attracting properties of ethanol which then condenses on the inside of the tank and causes rust. The ethanol has done an excellent job of removing the petseal in my tank so I need to use a solvent (ethanol sounds good) to remove any final remains, re-seal it and rustproof it - not leaking yet so hopefully the PO used the petseal to protect the tank rather than cure any leaks.
The ethanol also dissolved the rubbers in my fuel taps causing fuel starvation meaning I could only run with both taps on - BAP taps from SRM cured that - and they do not leak!

Jim

[bikerbob]

Hi there
Have just received a reply from my Local MP have attached my original letter plus reply from M.O.T. you will see that they have not really addressed the problems no mention of the dangers or making it compulsory to have filling stations display the level of Ethanol added also a major publicity campaign.

[alanp]

I doubt anyone was expecting anything other than the reply we got i.e.  'we have to comply with EU regs and if you have a problem with compatibility then change the material/parts affected'.
As has been stated on this forum before we have to help each other by posting on this forum any positive remedies to this threat to our machines.

[Goldy]

There is an article about this subject from the VMCC in this months old bike mart. As has been stated previously the ethanol absorbs water and this causes corrosion, but the article also suggests that this mixture of ethanol and water conducts electricity and so electrolysis takes place between dissimilar metals in the fuel system. It seems to me that what is required is simply an "additive" which removes water. Any suggestions?

[shabashow]

I used to use Sodium Sulphate when I did chemistry at Uni to remove traces of water from solvents during labs where the slightest traces of H20 would interfere with the reaction. The Sodium Sulphate was a powder and it would sit harmlessly in the bottom of the flask. Don't think that would be practical for our petrol tanks, but someone could probably get it into some sort of 'teabag' that could hang in the tank. Probably would have to change it frequently, as it would only have so much capacity to absorb water - more so if it was humid or rainy. Not sure if I'd want to put a petrol soaked powder in the oven to regenerate it, it would be a one shot deal!

[bikerbob]

Update. I sent a letter to my MP saying that I was not happy wth the Ministers reply he contacted the Minister and I have just recieved his reply via my MP. He does clarify somepoints but the only change is that they state that it is not now the governments  "firm intention" to go to 10% after 2013 when in their original report they said it was. I still feel that this problem is not being given the publicity that it deserves.